1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component.
2. Related Background Art
Known as a surface mounting electronic component (e.g., a multilayer ceramic capacitor) is one comprising an element body having a pair of end faces opposed to each other, a pair of principal faces extending so as to connect the pair of end faces and opposed to each other, and a pair of side faces extending so as to connect the pair of principal faces and opposed to each other and an external electrode formed so as to cover a partial region of the principal face and/or a partial region of the side face and having a plating layer comprised of Sn or an Sn alloy (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-013315). In the electronic component disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-013315, the external electrodes, each having a five-face electrode structure (a structure formed over five surfaces of the element body), are formed spreading over both end faces of the base element and partial regions of the principal faces and side faces adjacent to the end faces.
Therefore, as illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 13, when an electronic component 101 is mounted by soldering onto a substrate SS provided with a wiring pattern WP, solder flows around onto external electrodes 103 formed on side faces of the electronic component 101. Solder fillets SF are also formed on side face portions of the external electrodes 103. Hence, when a plurality of electronic components 101 are mounted in parallel or series arrangement, a solder bridge can be formed between end face portions or between the end face portion and the side face portion of adjacent electronic components 101. For this reason, a short-circuit problem is likely to arise between electronic components 101 and it was difficult to realize close adjacent high-density mounting with reduced spacing between electronic components 101. When respective side face portions of the electronic components 101 come into contact with each other because of a positional deviation generated at the time of mounting the electronic components 101 as illustrated in FIG. 14, or when an end face portion of one electronic component 101 and a side face portion of the other electronic component 101 come into contact with each other as illustrated in FIG. 15, there is a fear of electrodes short-circuiting between the electronic components 101.
For solving such a problem, an electronic component in which electrodes are formed only on its bottom face has been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-267176). In the electronic component disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-267176, solder fillets formed at the time of mounting do not exist or are small.